Through their experiences, cadre in the Corps of Cadets at Norwich have learned how to use different types of leadership to their advantage.
Interviews with cadre find they may employ different styles at different times and see the benefits of being flexible. Buty ultimately, how they choose to lead often comes down to what they feel comfortable with.
Cadre are the upperclass cadets that have volunteered for the engaged task of training the freshman rooks to meet the qualifying standards it takes to be a member of the Corps of Cadets. It is a cadre’s responsibility to teach, coach and mentor rooks, and they do this through experimentation of leadership styles.
Although there are many different types of leadership styles, most cadre practice one of two main styles while training rooks: transformational leadership, and transactional leadership.[Read more…]

Retired Colonel Andy Hird is now teaching a course on aviation. Picture by Amber Reichart.

With over 5,000 flying hours on his shoulders, former Air Force colonel Andy Hird has decided to put his experience at Norwich students’ disposal, introducing an innovative “experimental course,” according to the new professor.
“I learned over the course of three years, that there’s a lot of students here that have their dreams and goals including aviation,” said Co. Hird, special assistant to the provost and flight instructor. “Yet we don’t have any aviation program,” he added.
After retiring from his position as the Air Force colonel, Hird received permission from the provost to teach an experimental course called “Aviation Ground School.”
Hird’s resume speaks for itself. He has served on the Air Staff, the Central Command Combined Air Operations Center staff, and the United States Transportation Command Staff. According to the Norwich University Website, (www.norwich.edu/blog) on top to his current command, Hird commanded the 62nd Operations Group, 517th Firebird Airlift Squadron, and the 385th Air Expeditionary Group. During his career as command pilot, he has flown combat missions in operations Deliberate Force, Allied Force, and Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.[Read more…]

After weeks of preparation, Norwich Army cadets held their annual Field Training Exercise (FTX) in mid-October, which received praise from many of the students in attendance compared to criticism in years past.
On Thursday, Oct. 11 all over campus, Norwich cadets could be seen in uniform walking towards Shapiro Field House with gear on their backs for a weekend full of outdoor learning at the FTX, the Army field training exercise that happens once a semester.
For four days and three nights, first and second year cadets who are members of the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (AROTC) Pioneer Battalion stayed in different locations on Paine Mountain to receive “good training that will help them prepare for advance camp,” said Army ROTC cadet Kaylee Walker, 20, a senior physics major from Fort Myers, Fla.
For many, this FTX was a requirement, but for others, they volunteered hoping that this could help them become contracted.[Read more…]

Every summer, a selected group of Norwich students take part in what many of them call a life-changing volunteering experience in Tanzania, Africa.

Located in the Wise Campus Center of Norwich University, the CCE offers a wide range of volunteering programs, but there is little doubt the trip to Tanzania is one of the most sought opportunities.

“I was constantly exposed to it. It took me a while to realize the importance of such opportunity, but finally I decided to take part of the trip,” said Brandon Johnson, 20, a sophomore, architecture major from Lauderhill, Fla., who took advantage of the chance during summer of 2017.

The trip to Pommerin, Tanzania, is supported by the Northfield Rotary Club of Vermont, an organization that serves as the student-driven volunteer coordinating hub of the university. Nicole Didomenico, director of the CCE, says the goal of the organization is to find local and international volunteer opportunities that match students personal and professional pursuits.

Norwich student working with the inhabitants of Pommerin. Photo by CCE Facebook Page

“It’s important to help other people’s succeed. In this case, we are helping a whole community succeeding. Being able to make the self-sufficient will allow them to greater opportunities in their futures,” said Patrina E. Krewson, 21, a junior Chinese major, from Farmington, N.H. “This could lead them to access and/or success in education, medicine, government.”

In collaboration with the Rotaract Club at Norwich, these trips have been organized since 2014. Prior to this past summer, the CCE visited the same location in Tanzania four times, creating a long-term bond with the local community and turning the trip into a yearly tradition. [Read more…]

With the completion of Mack Hall Auditorium, The Pegasus Players are making a big comeback by putting on the acclaimed musical “Cabaret,” winner of eight Tony awards and a highly entertaining show.
The goal is to “demonstrate to the community, that (the club) is doing work that deserves their attention,” according to the club and theater company’s advisor, professor Jeff Casey.
“This performance is stage one of our strategy of getting the community in to see the work we do. We want to be of service to the community and we want the people that live both inside and outside the gates of Norwich to come in and see what we’re doing,” said Casey, assistant professor of the theater department of English and communications and advisor to the Pegasus Players.[Read more…]

From distant cities in China to popular European capitals in Prague and Berlin, Norwich students who experience study abroad gain cultural breadth, important additions to their résumé and opportunities for adventure.
Norwich University offers students a chance to gain both “experience and perspective as a person as well as for future careers,” says the Assistant Director (AD) for Education Abroad and Away at Norwich, Thomas Blood.
“(Employers) know they are not taking a risk hiring someone who has studied abroad,” said Blood. “They know someone who has studied abroad is capable of rising to the occasion in the face of a new challenge, which is very important for any career.”
Students have the chance to study in a foreign country for the same price, if not less, than what they pay to attend Norwich, he explained.[Read more…]

With Regimental Ball just around the corner on Oct. 27, the annual ritual of “rookie proposals” for dates is causing anxiety and humor throughout the halls of the barracks surrounding the Upper Parade Ground at Norwich.
“Rookie proposals can be pretty out there,” said Leah Andrea, a 21-year old communications major from Pittsburgh, Pa. “I have seen some hilarious ways to ask a person to a dance, it’s definitely not something you see every day.”
According to Andrea, there is not any specific criteria someone must follow during a rookie proposal. Generally, the recruits need permission from their cadre, but once permission is granted they may begin making their plans.[Read more…]

The staff of Norwich University’s Counseling and Wellness Center are trying innovative strategies to promote the counseling center’s presence on campus, and the effort seems to be working.
“Last year’s total, across the whole year, we had 250 students come through,” said Nicole Krotinger, director of Counseling and Wellness. “This year we are already at 160, and its only October.”
The goal is to boost usage of the center to help manage the mental health of students, according to Krotinger.
Krotinger noted that at least 60 new students have visited the counseling center per month and expects the total number of visitors to surpass last year’s figures. Fewer students visited the counseling center in 2017 because the new counseling staff had just started that year.[Read more…]

On Wednesday Oct. 10, hundreds of Norwich student-athletes laced up their sneakers and joined a crowd of Northfield elementary school kids, walking together to the local primary school.
The event was part of the yearly National Walk to School Day, a global event that involves communities from more than 40 countries walking and biking to school on the same day. It began in 1997 as a one-day event. Over time, according to the event’s website, it has become part of a movement for year-round safe routes to school and a celebration – with record breaking participation – each October. Thousands of schools across America – from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico – now participate.
Football player Owen McKenna is one of the numerous athletes who made the commitment to set the alarm early in the morning in order to take part to the event.[Read more…]

Norwich mens lacrosse team working out in the new gym. Picture by Andrew Thomas

Preseason, in season, and postseason, no matter the time of year, athletes are in the weight room lifting. Both men’s and women’s teams at Norwich University know this first hand. Putting in work in the weight room with the strength and conditioning coach is a key component in succeeding as an athlete.
Take all those student-athletes with busy schedules, combined with non-athletes trying to work out, and put them all in the same gym: that is one extremely overcrowded gym in Plumley Armory. Norwich felt there needed to be a change and so did the student-athletes.
This past month Norwich’s athletic director decided to create a smaller but more effective weight lifting gym for varsity sports teams. The gym was created by taking two racquet ball courts and equipping the rooms with lifting racks and new dumbbells.[Read more…]